Furniture assembly and fastening



United States Patent FURNITURE ASSEMBLY, AND FASTENING DEVICE FOR USE THEREIN Philip D. Becker, Hingham, Mass, assignor to United- Carr Fastener Corporation, a corporation of Massachusetts Application October 10, 1952, Serial No. 314,152

3 Claims. (Cl. 155-196) This invention relates generally to furniture assemblies,

and has particular reference to a chair assembly of the type having a frame formed of tubular members.

In the construction of such types of chairs, the seat is ordinarily attached to the seat support portion of the frame by means of bolts or the like. However, th1s method is not entirely satisfactory, since it is desirable to ship such chairs in the disassembled condition, to be assembled by the purchaser. For this reason, it would be desirable to make the assembly operation as simple and easy as possible.

The object of the invention is to provide a chair assembly in which a seat member is adapted to be snapped mto engagement with a seat support portion.

A further object of the invention is to provlde a chair assembly having a seat support portion formed by side members and a cross member extending therebetween and a seat portion having means assembled thereon for snapping engagement with the side members and the cross member.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a chair assembly having a seat support portion formed by tubular side members and a tubular cross member extending therebetween, and a seat portion having means for snap fastener engagement on adjacent sides of said cross members and other means for snap fastener engagement in a suitable opening in the cross member.

Other objects of the invention will, in part, be obvious, and will, in part, appear hereinafter.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a chair assembly embodying the features of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of the seat portion and seat support portion of the chair of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a fastener for assembly onto the seat portion for engagement with side members of the seat support portion of the chair assembly of Pi l;

i ig. 4 is a perspective view of a fastener for assembly onto the seat portion for engagement with the cross member of the seat support portion;

Fig. 5 is a view in section taken on line 5--5 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a view in section taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 7 is a view in section taken on line 7--7 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 8 is a view in section taken on line 8--8 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawing, there is illustrated a chair assembly 10, which has a frame formed of tubular members bent into the desired shape, and comprises a seat support portion formed by tubular side members 12 and a front cross member 14 between the side members and having a slot 15 formed therein. The side members may be extended at the front end to provide front legs 16 and at the rear end to provide back support portions 18. The cross member may be extended back alongside the side fuppgst portions and then downwardly to provide back egs A seat portion 22 is provided for assembly onto the seat support portion, and comprises a base 24 which may be formed of wood, with a suitable cushion portion 26 disposed on the upper side thereof in the usual manner.

To provide means for assembly of the seat portion 22 onto the seat support portion, a pair of side fasteners 28 and a front fastener 30 are disposed on the lower side of the base 24. The side fasteners 28 each comprise a base 32 having an opening 34 for receiving a screw 36 or the like for attaching the fastener to the seat and a pair of prongs 38 for piercing the seat base 24 to retain the fastener 1n the proper orientation thereon. Extending downwardly from the base 32 is a resilient arm 40, which is substantially flat in transverse section, and is longitudinally bowed to provide a concave portion 42, forming a shoulder 44 spaced from the base. The end of the arm 40 is curled back toward the base to provide a rounded camming end 46to facilitate engagement of the fastener with a side tubular member as will appear hereinafter, and inclined teeth 48 are provided on the edges of the arm near this shoulder to dig into engagement with the side members as will appear hereinafter.

The front fastener 30 comprises a base 50 having a central opening 52 to receive a screw 54 for attaching the fastener to the seat and a pair of prongs 56 for piercing the base of the seat to retain the fastener in the proper orientation thereon. A tube engaging portion exends from the base, and comprises a pair of flat spaced legs 58 joined at the ends by a connecting member 60 and a spring arm 62 extending from the connecting member back toward the base 50. The spring arm 62 is initially inclined out of the plane of the spaced legs on one side and then inclined in the opposite direction to provide a shoulder 64. The tube engaging portion, in the illustrated embodiment, is inclined in relation to the plane of the base 50 so that when the fastener is properly attached to the seat, the tube engaging portion extends outwardly and. downwardly therefrom, as is best shown in Fig. 7.

The side fasteners 28 are attached to the lower side of the seat so that the concave portions 42 face in opposite directions, and are spaced apart a predetermined distance depending on the distance between the tubular side members 12. The front fastener 30 is attached to the lower side of the seat so that the tube engaging portion extends downwardly and forwardly.

The seat may be assembled onto the seat support portion by first inserting the tube engaging portion of the front fastener into the slot 15 which is disposed downwardly from the uppermost side of the cross member 14 on the rear side thereof to enable it to receive the forwardly inclined tube engaging portion. The seat is then lowered onto the support so that the two side fasteners substantially simultaneously snap into engagement with the two tubular side members, with the concave portions 42 of the fasteners partially encircling the tubular side members, and the teeth 48 digging into engagement therewith. Thereafter the two side fasteners prevent sideways movement of the seat, and the front fastener prevents movement of the seat in a front or back direction. The front fastener also prevents disengagement of the seat from the support by direct lifting on the front edge of the seat.

Although in the illustrated embodiment, one front fastener and two side fasteners are used, in some cases more fasteners of each type may be desirable. In some structures, the side fasteners may be so attached to the seat as to engage the outside of the side supports.

Since certain other modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained herein be interpreted in an illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. A chair assembly, comprising a seat support portion formed of spaced tubular side members and a tubular front member extending therebetween, said tubular front member having a slot like aperture formed in the wall thereof, and a seat member assembled onto the support, said seat member having a pair of resilient side fasteners extending downwardly therefrom with outwardly facing concave surfaces disposed in snapping engagement on the inner sides of said spaced tubular side members, and a front fastener projecting generally downwardly from the lower side of the seat into the aperture in the tubular front member, said front fastener having resilient shoulder means disposed in snapping engagement in said aperture, and rigid members disposed on each side of said resilient shoulder means.

2. A chair assembly, comprising a seat support portion formed of spaced tubular side members and a tubular front member extending therebetween, said tubular front member having a slot-like aperture formed in the wall March 8, 1955 A. B. MANUPELLO RIM ANCHORING ATTACHMENT FOR TIRE REMOVING TOOLS Filed Feb, 18, 1953 Fig. 2

Anthony B. Manupe/lo INVENTOR and 

